Pumpkins and corn mazes

—

can Lawson stick it

out long enough in his hellish holiday job for a
chance to be with Hayden?

College football player Lawson’s funds are

starting to get a little thin for him to make it to the
end of the semester. Finding the flyer to work at
the Pumpkin Patch seems to be the answer to his
empty pockets, until he starts working there. Now
he finds himself stuck in a job from hell. The only
motivation he has is hoping that the pumpkin
artist

—

art major Hayden

—

will notice him before

the season ends.

Can he stick it out long enough to ask Hayden

out? And will Hayden run screaming for the door
when he finds out where he lives?

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
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infringement, including infringement without
monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is
punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a
fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions,
and do not participate in or encourage the electronic
piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the
author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

Copyright © 2012 Jackie Nacht

ISBN: 978-1-77111-349-6

Cover art by Martine Jardin

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the
reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in
part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden
without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books

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Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

Holiday Jobs That Don’t Suck

By

Jackie Nacht

To my husband…I love you.

1

Chapter One

ey asshole, I didn’t mean that one—I want
the big one!”

Lawson stood there, stunned, looking at the

demonic ten year old. He gently laid down the
slightly muddy pumpkin while still eyeing the
child to make sure his head wouldn’t start
spinning with a finale of throwing up pea soup.

He’d begun working here only two weeks ago

after he’d seen the colorful black and orange flyer
in the common area at his college saying the local
pumpkin patch needed extra hands before
Halloween. Since his summer job funds were
getting pretty thin, he’d torn off the number and
called immediately. A few of his frat brothers and
fellow teammates had come along, thinking it
would be fun for all of them to work together, but
they had made it two days before tucking tail and
running.

At first it seemed like a great idea—the owners

were nice and always offered him a hot cider and

“H

Jackie Nacht

2

donut when he went on break, and the other
people he worked with were nice too. They were
more than willing to work around his football
practices and games. His painful times at work
came when a customer would request help in
picking a pumpkin out and would need Lawson
to go in search for one.

Take this kid, for instance. They had been out

here for the last fifteen minutes and his parents sat
up by the barn sipping hot cider while their sweet
adorable child dressed him down over a freaking
pumpkin.

This one is too big. That one is too small. This one is

too long. The stem is too short. It’s not orange enough.
He honestly had heard it all. Who knew it would
be so tough to pick out a fucking pumpkin?

“Hey, douche bag, quit daydreaming! I want

that great big one over there.”

Lawson turned and rolled his eyes making his

way toward said pumpkin that was lying in dark,
gooey mud two inches deep. Luckily the day was
warming up since the morning rain and he could
roll up his sleeves. Taking his time while boy
junior bitched behind him, he grabbed his work
gloves out of his back pocket. Bending at the
knees, he lifted the fifty pounder and began
walking it back toward the kid.

“Is this okay?” Lawson tried to turn it without

getting his clothes covered in mud. It didn’t work.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

3

The little shit tilted his head as if thinking. “I

guess so, but it’s dirty.”

“We have a hose at the barn. I’ll clean it up for

you.” Lawson tried to put on his best customer
service smile and failed miserably.

“Fine, but if anything is wrong, we’ll have to

come back out and pick another one.”

That would be a cold day in hell, but Lawson

was going to keep his thoughts to himself.

Following the little prince toward the barn, he

veered off to wash the pumpkin. There, leaning
against the side of the barn, was the reason he
didn’t up and quit like his friends did two days in.
With pale blond hair and green eyes, Hayden had
caught Lawson’s attention his first day here.

Hayden worked at the pumpkin patch too,

except he didn’t do any of the grunt work that
Lawson did. Hayden was a freshman at the same
college, an art major, and his job was to paint faces
or carve intricate pictures into the pumpkins.
Every time Lawson had a break, he would sit
behind Hayden and watch his long graceful
fingers make strategic strokes until it became this
amazing picture.

People lined up just to have special painting for

their Halloween parties and work places. His
motives for watching Hayden, however, were
completely different. He often sat there wondering
what it would feel like to have those fingers on his

Jackie Nacht

4

body. Would they be hot or cold? They definitely
would be callused from the effort he put into his
artwork. Just the thought made his lustful
thoughts go into overdrive.

To top it off, Hayden was super nice. He would

absently talk to Lawson while he painted faces on
the pumpkins for the customers. He would always
lend an encouraging smile when he came back wet
or covered in mud, or when a customer kept him
out searching for the Hope Diamond of pumpkins.
It never failed to cheer him up. So yeah—Lawson
was majorly crushing on him, enough to confide
in his best friend Cooper that he wanted to date
the guy.

Honestly, Lawson was surprised he hadn’t

asked Hayden out yet. Maybe for the first time he
felt really interested in someone and just didn’t
know how to approach him on the topic of going
out on a date. He was waiting for an opportunity
that hadn’t come yet. Or it could be that he was a
junior in college and still had little to no
experience. Sure, he’d kissed a few guys, but what
with being busy keeping his academic and football
scholarships, he hadn’t had the time to search for
someone. Now that he was interested in someone,
he was terrified of making the first move. He
knew he needed to get his ass in gear because
Hayden was amazing and he wouldn’t have
trouble getting dates. It was only a matter of time

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

5

before somebody snatched the freshman up.

Hayden walked over and squatted down next

to him by the hose. “I thought that kid was never
going to pick one. Jeez, I hope he doesn’t want it
painted. He’d probably have me repaint the thing
over and over. Or better yet, want me to make one
looking like it was vomiting the pumpkin insides.
While those are cool near the day of Halloween,
he’d get pissed when it spoiled two weeks before
the big day. He’d definitely come back here and
demand a refund.”

“I just hope he doesn’t notice this small spot on

the bottom here or my ass will be right back out in
the mud.” Lawson began to dry the pumpkin with
a dirty rag.

“That’s just a great way to spend your Friday

night, knee deep in mud. I heard mud is good for
your skin, though, so yours should be spectacular
before the end of this season.” Hayden smiled at
him, showing off the deep dimples in his cheeks.

Tilting his head back, Lawson laughed for the

first time today. “Yeah and I didn’t have to pay
three hundred for the treatment, either, like my
mom does. No, I get off in an hour and plan to
detox from the day watching It’s The Great

Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

“Oh, I get off in an hour too. You want to walk

back to campus together?” Hayden scratched his
chin leaving a bright blue spot of paint that he

Jackie Nacht

6

used to color the eyes of the silly faces he drew.

Without even thinking, Lawson reached over

with his cold wet thumb and wiped the smudge
from his face. Hayden’s green eyes widened in
shock. Maybe it was Lawson’s fault that he’d
never let him know of his interest or his sexual
orientation. Not a lot of people knew he was gay,
even though he wasn’t secretive about it. People
just assumed being a tight end and a big guy, that
you were straight. They were way off base in his
case.

Hayden tilted his head and looked at him like

he was trying to solve some great mystery. Why
not give him the answer? This was the opening
that he had been waiting for since meeting the
pale-haired artist.

“Are you doing anything tonight?” Lawson

queried. If his voice went up an octave, he was
never going to admit to it.

“No, and I don’t even want to think of studying

tonight. Studying on a Friday night is depressing
and my roommate went home for the weekend.
Maybe I’ll just order a pizza and play some
videogames. I dunno, why?”

“Well, I was thinking you could come over to

the house with me. We can order that pizza and
watch Charlie Brown together.” Lawson almost
cringed as he saw Hayden’s eyebrows rise almost
all the way to his hairline.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

7

“You want me to come over to your fraternity

house?” Hayden asked in disbelief.

“Well, yeah, it’s not like we torture people there

or anything. I know we have that kind of rap, but
we’re not all bad. It’s a regular house. It even has
couches and tables and things like that.” This was
not the first time Lawson’s fraternity had to
defend itself. Being the athletes on campus, they
tended to get a horrible reputation for being
aggressive dumb jocks. Most people on campus
steered clear of the house.

“Are you sure you want me to come over to

your place? I really don’t fit in there.” Twining his
fingers, Hayden began to look nervous. He also
happened to look completely adorable when
unsure.

“You’re fine. No one will mess with you as my

date. My brothers don’t give a shit.” He knew he
was pressing, but quite honestly Lawson was tired
of dancing around the situation. He wanted to get
to know Hayden better and the only way to do
that was to have one on one time together.

Hayden’s gasp of surprise was drowned out by

the boy junior. “Hurry up, asshole, we haven’t got
all day. I have a Halloween party to get to. Now
get your ass moving!”

Picking up the gourd, Lawson began walking

away before turning and looking at Hayden, who
was smiling ear to ear. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

Jackie Nacht

8

With a final wink, Lawson returned to one more
hour of his hellish job. Now, it almost seemed
bearable.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

9

Chapter Two

hat in the hell had Hayden been thinking in
agreeing to come over to Lawson’s frat

house? He was going to get his ass beaten as soon
as he entered the scariest frat on campus. Art
students did not go within two hundred yards of
the place. He had afternoon classes that were near
this fraternity and walked an extra block out of his
way just to avoid the guys that sat out front on
their porch drinking and making comments as
everyone walked by.

It was amazing that Lawson even belonged to

the fraternity. Sure, as a football player, he was an
athlete. But the guys he’d seen out front those few
times did not match the personality of the guy
walking next to him. Lawson was sweet, and even
though he was a big guy at two-twenty-five and
six foot five, he was just a big teddy bear. He had
this amazing brown hair and hazel eyes. Hayden
had secretly sketched a portrait of Lawson one
day when the work was slow at the patch. Lawson

W

Jackie Nacht

10

always smiled at him with those beautiful full lips
that were slightly asymmetrical, which made the
artist in him completely mesmerized.

Then there were the tan lines from his football

uniform. Hayden never would have seen those if
it hadn’t been for the day that Lawson fell in the
mud and had to change his shirt and wash off by
the spigot. Thankfully he worked sitting down, or
he would have been humiliated most of the
afternoon trying to hide the erection that his
imagination wouldn’t let abate. He’d waited until
he got home to sketch that picture—it was now
tucked away, buried in his pile of sketches under
his bed. No way did he want his roommate to
discover it.

Walking up to the sidewalk to the house,

Hayden mumbled, “This is a bad idea.”

To his surprise, Lawson grabbed his hand.

“Don’t worry. I’m serious—the guys don’t give a
shit, and the ones that do, it’s none of their fucking
business. Trust me—if they say anything to
anybody, it’ll be them that get fucked with, not us.
If you’re worried about being gay and walking in
here, don’t. They knew I was gay even before I
pledged and they picked me up because they’re
friends and teammates. They do not care about
who I’m attracted to, but they do have my back. I
know how you feel. I didn’t have that in high
school, but I sure as hell do here.”

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

11

Well, that completely answered Hayden’s

questions. He’d been pretty sure Lawson was gay
when he’d asked him here. He just hadn’t outright
said it like he did now. The other thing it
answered was why Lawson was in the fraternity.
He only hoped Lawson’s friends had his back too.

They walked through very old and crooked

wooden doors at the front of the house. Lawson
tucked a nice size bag of donuts under his arm
before opening it. He didn’t even get a chance to
look around before the smell hit him. So, this was
what beer soaked into carpet and left for years
smelled like. How anyone could walk around
without menthol salve under their noses was
beyond him. He had the urge to pull out his hand
sanitizer and put it under his nose to see if it
would help before he turned green and keeled
over.

The next thing he noticed was a spiral staircase

in the main foyer that had no banister. Without
thinking he asked, “Where’s the banister?”

“Ugh, I think Paxton needed to get his couch

down to the President’s room after he was elected
and the banister got in the way.” Lawson looked
around like he was actually seeing the complete
wreck of a house for the first time.

“Come on, I told you we had couches, I just

never told you that we sometimes throw them
down the stairs when our stairway makes moving

Jackie Nacht

12

around a pain in the ass.” Lawson turned to smile
at him.

There was a lot of commotion coming from the

back of the house. Most of it sounded like laughter
with the sound of silverware clashing with plates.

“Did you want to go in and eat with the guys,

or go upstairs and I can order a pizza?” Lawson
tried to look around the corner, no doubt trying to
see what the loud crash was. It sounded like metal
chairs were being thrown around.

“I’ll take the pizza, thank you.” There was no

way he was going to go in there, with some guys
weighing over a hundred pounds more than he,
and eat the Friday night mystery meat.

Thanks…but no.

He honestly believed what Lawson had said—

that no one would give him shit for being gay—
but he had always been intimidated by huge guys.
Being five foot seven did that to you. It was
Lawson’s kind and gentle nature day in and day
out that had made Hayden comfortable around
him.

Lawson smiled back at him. “I have the number

upstairs, come on.”

He kept hold of Hayden’s hand until they made

it up the stairs with no banister and down a
hallway littered with holes in the drywall. Jeez,
this made Animal House look like a Martha Stewart
home.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

13

They rounded a corner and Lawson opened the

door in the corner of one particularly holey
hallway. The room was massive and very tidy. It
actually smelled nice in here. Two beds on
opposite walls stood on lofts with desks, chairs
and laptops underneath them. A flat screen was
mounted on the wall on the opposite side from the
beds so you could lie down and watch TV at the
same time. On the door were wooden Greek
letters OX, standing for Omega Xi. There weren’t
any posters but there were two large windows
that brought in the last rays of daylight.

“Wow, when I first walked in here, I…I

expected…” Hayden stammered.

Lawson burst out laughing. “What did you

expect? Rats nibbling on crumbs on the floor? Old
sweaty gym clothes? Nah, Coop and I are much
cleaner than that. You met Cooper at work. He
lasted for all of two days before he quit.”

This room was like a parallel dimension

compared to the rest of the house. He wasn’t sure
what to expect next—a frat brother to come in
with fresh cut roses?

“Come in and sit down. What do you like on

your pizza?”

Hayden sat down in one of the desk chairs. At

this angle he noticed a peg board on the wall
covered in pictures. Some of the people he
recognized as Lawson’s fraternity brothers. A lot

Jackie Nacht

14

of the pictures were of them with their arms
around each other smiling at the camera while
holding beers in their hands. There was a
particularly goofy one that made Hayden smile—a
close up of Lawson and Cooper with bloodshot
eyes, hugging each other and laughing while
sticking their tongues out. Clearly there had been
drinking involved, but they looked like they were
having a blast.

Since coming to school in the fall, he’d never

had trouble making friends with his fellow dorm
mates, but he didn’t have a friendship that
showed so clearly in these pictures. Hayden had
always assumed that when you joined a fraternity
you seemed to be buying your friends. Looking at
the pictures, he realized his assumptions couldn’t
be further from the truth. These guys were close,
closer than any friends he had ever made.

Lawson tapped him on the shoulder to get his

attention. “Hey, what do you like on your pizza?”

“Get anything you want. I usually get just plain

cheese, and I can pick the toppings off.”

Lawson made a face. “We’ll take an extra-large

cheese pizza and bread sticks. Yeah, delivery to
OX house. Uh huh…yeah, I’ll stand on the
sidewalk and wait for the driver. He doesn’t have
to come in again.”

Lawson rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue

out, making Hayden laugh. He hung up the phone

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

15

while shaking his head. “Jeez, is everyone afraid
of coming in here?”

“Well, yeah, your house looks like a cross

between Animal House and Addams Family. It’s a
creepy combination.” Hayden shuddered to
emphasize his point.

“It’s not that bad. Just needs a little TLC.”

Lawson sat down on an old, comfy brown couch.
It was then Hayden finally got his first chance to
just look at Lawson since they’d got off work. His
shirt had a few spots of mud on it and his jeans
had seen some action in the field, leaving the cuffs
completely covered in grime. Hayden wished it
would have made him look worse, except the dirt
made him sexier…dammit.

“You didn’t have to order cheese just because of

me, you know.”

“I know that, and I also can tell you—being a

cheese lover myself—that picking off the topping
does two things. The first is half the cheese is
removed by being stuck to the toppings and the
second is the grease from the toppings makes the
cheese taste funny.” Lawson tilted his head at him
as if expecting him to argue.

What Lawson said was exactly true

—

Hayden

just never wanted to seem difficult. “Thanks.
When did they say it was going to be delivered?”

“Fifteen minutes. We have time. So, tell me—”

Lawson was cut off by a knocking on his door.

Jackie Nacht

16

A freaking huge head poked into the room.

“Oh, sorry to interrupt, man.”

The guy looked around before spotting the bag

of donuts that Lawson had carried home. “Are
you going to eat those? Those aren’t promised to
that fucker Cooper, are they?”

Lawson shook his head, laughing. “No, he’s as

sick of them as I am by now. Have at ‘em, man.”

The offensive lineman grabbed the greasy

brown paper bag with one hand while holding his
gut with the other. “Thanks, man. You know I
gotta watch my figure and all. Carry on.”

As the door closed the guy bellowed out, “I got

the donuts, fuckers. Now don’t be bugging
Lawson! He’s got company.”

Hayden went wide eyed as the sound of

footfalls and crashing ensued in the hallway.
There would be nothing left of those poor donuts
by the time those guys got finished fighting for
them.

Lawson shrugged. “Usually I walk in and

throw them in the middle of the dining room
table, but since they broke a table and chairs a
couple days ago, our house mother thought it
would be best for them to hunt me down and do a
first come, first served. Don’t think that’s panning
out either.”

Jesus, this place had a house mother? Who in

the hell would want to live in this house? It was a

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

17

biohazard. It took a special woman to live with
this crew—a woman who was a glutton for
punishment.

Another knock on the door—this time a quiet

one. Cooper poked his head in, his face lighting up
when he spotted Hayden. “Hi, Hayden.” Cooper
looked over at Lawson. “About time you sacked
up and brought him over. Thought Jackson was
screwing with all of us.”

Lawson moaned putting his head in his hands.

“Jesus, Coop, embarrassing much?”

“Just telling it like it is.” Cooper walked in with

a cocky gait looking over at Hayden smiling. He
opened up a closet and pulled out a hoodie with
the fraternity letters on it. Hayden had to admit,
Cooper was good looking in his own right. He had
extremely dark brown hair that was just a shade
from being black. His eyes were a bright blue that
stood out on a face that probably had never
frowned. When he’d worked at the pumpkin
patch, he’d laughed even when he got frustrated.
He was just as big as Lawson, too. Hayden often
heard them talking about how they were both
tight ends for the college team and would go over
plays while they took breaks by the house.

Lawson got up and walked over to his desk.

“Hey, do me a favor, will ya? Can you go and get
our pizza and breadsticks for us when the delivery
guy comes? He won’t come in again.”

Jackie Nacht

18

“Probably because the last time he came in was

right after we won our game. Celebration was
pretty heavy that night, my friend. Don’t worry,
I’ll wait outside and get it for you. Nosy sons of
bitches are waiting out in the hallway to get a look
at your boy over there.” Cooper reached over with
a slap to the desk and grabbed the money from
Lawson and walked out.

Lawson slowly closed the door behind his

friend and leaned against it. Hayden had no idea
what to think. This was not what he’d expected
when walking into this house.

Lawson had a blush on his tan cheeks. “Sorry

about that. They mean well—they just can be a
bit…much at times. I brought you over here to get
to know you, and so far it’s been an epic fail.”
Lawson brushed his dark hair back from his
forehead and blew out a breath.

Hayden thought he looked absolutely adorable

looking frustrated because he had friends who
were on the meddlesome side. What a pleasant
problem that was.

“Don’t worry about it. I actually think that I’m

getting to know quite a bit about you just by being
here. I didn’t expect your fraternity brothers to be
so nice.” Hayden began to swivel side to side in
the desk chair, keeping his gaze on Lawson still
standing by the door.

Ooh, his fingers were itching to paint him.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

19

Lawson would be the perfect model for his class
next semester when they would have live models.
The thought of his other classmates seeing Lawson
nude, though, shut down that thought
immediately. He didn’t want anyone to see
Lawson that way…well, except for him.

“Don’t let them fool you. They can be real

assholes to a lot of people on campus. Our
reputation is there for a reason, but a lot of it’s
over the top. Cooper spilled that I was finally
interested in someone at AC a couple weeks ago
and some of the guys have been dogging me about
it.”

“AC?” Hayden hadn’t a clue what he was

talking about.

“All Chapter meetings. It’s a weekly fraternity

meeting and we talk about fraternity stuff but
sometimes it gets a little off topic. Actually, our
meetings seem to be more off topic than on.”
Lawson walked back over and sat down at his
spot on the couch. He slowly stretched his long,
thick legs, making Hayden want to straddle them.

Focusing, Hayden asked, “So they don’t mind

about you being gay?”

Lawson laughed. “Most don’t and the ones that

do don’t say anything cause they’ll get their asses
beat by Cooper. He doesn’t tolerate that shit and
most of the people in the house are of the same
mind. I know a lot of people don’t have it easy like

Jackie Nacht

20

me, being an athlete and all, but it helps being big
and having bigger friends.”

“It must be nice having a group of guys like

that. I didn’t know the world of athletics was so
accepting.” Hayden flipped the chair so he could
straddle it and lean his chin on the backrest.

“Really, most places aren’t. Athletics seemed to

be one of the lagging places for acceptance, but
with organizations like You Can Play Project and
Athlete Ally, people are being educated. Really,
our team is light years ahead of most sports
organizations. We’re a family, and that’s what it’s
all about at the end of the day. That’s what’s
important. Actually, the coach here heavily
recruited me and when I told him I was gay, he
said, So what? You’re one of the best tight ends in the
country and a hell of leader. I’m not saying that to
brag, I’m just saying that to let you know the
whole organization is accepting and our team is
really tight because of it. Do you mind if I rinse off
really fast? This mud is starting to get itchy.”
Lawson stood up and went to a stack of milk
crates, pulling out a grey T-shirt and navy fleece
pants.

If he was going to strip right here, Hayden

wasn’t sure what he might do. After weeks of
looking at the man, it might reduce him to
climbing the guy like a spider monkey. Knowing
that he might actually have a chance with the guy

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

21

was making his body respond with all systems go.

“Sure, go ahead,” Hayden croaked out then

coughed trying to cover up his hoarse voice. Why
didn’t he just ask Lawson if he can join while he’s
at it? Oh God, now why did he have to think that?
Luckily the back of the chair was hiding his
growing erection.

The lopsided grin Lawson gave him as he

walked out verified that the man knew where his
brain was at. Oh well, if Lawson invited him there
and then took a shower, he wasn’t responsible for
his brain going straight into the gutter.

Leaning back, he began doing slow turns in the

chair while looking at the ceiling, a failed attempt
at trying to get his mind off of what Lawson was
doing at that very moment.

It wasn’t even a few minutes later when the

door opened.

“Whoa, that was fast… Oh!” Hayden jerked in

the chair as he looked up and saw Cooper walking
through the door with the pizza and breadsticks.

Cooper sat them on the desk next to him.

“Sorry, man, didn’t mean to scare you. The guy
didn’t even get out of his car to give me these. He
barely slowed down. The fucker made me jog by
his car as we exchanged pizza and cash. You
would think this house had the black plague. Oh
well, we reap what we sow, I guess.” Cooper
chuckled.

Jackie Nacht

22

He wasn’t so sure their reputation was blown a

little out of proportion. So far, everyone was being
really nice to him. Or maybe he was seeing the
inner workings of a close family?

Cooper went on, “Anyway, it is good to see you

here. He’s been talking about you non-stop since
he started working. I think he would have quit by
now if you hadn’t been working there. I couldn’t
stand it there. When those kids went all Children of
the Corn on me in the corn maze, my ass was
hightailing it out of there. Lawson told me about
the school field trip last week and how they tried
to stuff him and turn him into a scarecrow when
the teacher wasn’t looking… Scary shit, my man.
He’s still having night terrors from that one.”

Hayden busted out laughing. “You should have

seen his face when he walked up to the front. He
had this wild look and there was hay sticking out
of his clothes. There was a kid on each of his legs
and arms. He was walking like Frankenstein’s
monster himself.”

The door opened up and, good lord, Lawson

came in with just these baggy sweats on that hung
so low, you could see the exactly where his happy
trail went. Hayden couldn’t help the hitch in his
breath or keep from staring at that little drop that
was rolling down the crease of his abs before it
soaked into the fabric at the waistband.

Clearing his throat, Cooper broke the moment,

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

23

“Well I’ll let you two have some time to
yourselves. I’ll be down in Miller’s room playing
Madden.”

The silence was deafening after Cooper closed

the door behind him. Hayden had the decency to
stare Lawson in the face this time. He knew he’d
been caught looking, but seeing the arousal in
Lawson’s eyes, he could have cared less. Maybe
that was what they needed

—

to lay all their cards

out and see where this went.

It looked as though Lawson was going to say

something then changed his mind altogether.
“Come on over to the couch. I’ll put the movie in
and then we can eat while we watch it.”

Hayden was good at weaseling things out of

people. He also knew how to time it well, and
right now was not the time to go fast. Clearly,
Lawson was interested, so there was no need to
rush things.

Grabbing the pizza and breadsticks, Hayden

took them over to the couch with a small scuffed
up wooden table in front of it. He laid them out as
Lawson brought the remote over. To the side of
the couch was a small apartment refrigerator.
Lawson pulled out two waters and handed one to
Hayden.

“Is this okay? If you want a Coke or something

else, I can go hunt one down for you.”

“No, this is good, thanks.”

Jackie Nacht

24

Hayden ate in silence as he watched the cartoon

that he hadn’t seen since he was a little boy.

Looking over at Lawson smiling at the screen

made his stomach do a little flip that had nothing
to do with the pizza. Good lord, he was falling fast
for the guy. Every once in a while he would feel
Lawson’s bare arm brush up against him, sending
shivers running throughout his whole body. The
guy still hadn’t put on a shirt. What was he trying
to do to him?

Before he could even blink, it seemed, the food

was gone and the movie was over. Hayden didn’t
really want to leave.

“Hey, you want to stay and watch another one?

I mean if you want to hang out here for a while…”
Lawson trailed off.

“Sure, I’d like that.” It was as if Lawson had

read his thoughts.

Lawson cleaned up and turned off the lights.

He put another movie in and came over to sit next
to him. The only light on in the room now was
coming from the TV, giving Lawson’s profile a
soft glow.

Hayden must have drawn Lawson’s attention,

because he looked over at him in the darkness. His
eyes searched for something before he slowly
leaned in and kissed him. The kiss started out
innocent enough

—

then, hungering for more,

Hayden opened his mouth, thrusting his tongue

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

25

into Lawson’s. Moaning, Lawson began to shift
position and before Hayden could get his
bearings, he was lying underneath Lawson on the
couch.

The sounds of the movie disappeared and all

Hayden could hear was the sound of their
combined moaning. Hayden wasn’t even sure
who began rubbing up against the other first, but
the friction was delicious.

Lawson pulled away to looked down at him

while framing his face with his large hands. “You
okay with this?”

Breathing heavily, Hayden replied, “Yeah, I’m

good. I’m real good with this.”

Hayden waited for the kissing to start back up.

What he didn’t expect was for Lawson to get up.
Poor guy—those sweats weren’t holding anything
back.

Rubbing his hair, Lawson looked over at him.

“Uh…” Then he began pacing.

What in the…?
“Do you want to stay over? I mean, I got a pair

of sweats for you to sleep in…which we will sleep.
It’s just…” Lawson blew out a breath.

From the looks of things, Lawson was freaking

the hell out. Hayden had zilch experience…but
maybe so did Lawson.

“They’ll be huge, but yeah, I’ll take the sweats

and I’ll stay over. And we don’t have to rush

Jackie Nacht

26

anything. It’s not like one of us is moving to
another country tomorrow or something.”
Hayden stood up and walked over to Lawson.

Rubbing his face, Lawson moaned, “I’m being

so lame.”

Hayden grabbed both of his hands. “You’re not.

Now come on and show me to those sweats.”

Silently, Lawson pulled out the sweats and

handed them over to him. He quickly disrobed,
leaving him in only his boxer briefs until he put on
the parachutes…uh, sweats.

Grabbing Hayden’s hand, Lawson climbed into

one of the beds in the room. They didn’t talk as
Lawson went to work tucking them both in.

Phew…this was going to be a long night. In the

darkness they just held each other. Hayden could
have sworn at one point he felt a small brush of
lips to his forehead. It was also going to be one of
the best nights he ever had. It was the first time he
had ever been held by a guy, and being held by
Lawson felt strangely right.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

27

Chapter Three

awson was beginning to regret agreeing to
work today. He’d had an early game and his

body felt like a train wreck. The defensive line had
been merciless against him, but they managed to
eke out a win. At the beginning of the season, the
coach had decided to change the whole offense,
making both him and Coop pass catchers. So
basically, they were used as third and fourth wide
receivers as well as their role as tight ends. Coop
and he loved the fact that the coach used them in
so many different formations. It usually wasn’t
until after the game that he felt the effects of all
those plays.

Bruising was beginning to appear on his

shoulders and arms from the several tackles he’d
received when carrying the ball. There was a
decent size bruise on his hip, too, from one play
where he’d had to run down field and dive to
catch the ball. Therefore, having to carry the last of
the massive pumpkins was beginning to take its

L

Jackie Nacht

28

toll. Customers were in a rush and he was
dragging ass.

Looking over at Hayden, Lawson could see he

wasn’t faring too much better. The guy was
covered in paint and pumpkin guts. He looked
frustrated as he worked furiously, painting a face
while the customer stood behind him putting in
her two cents.

Man, he wished he could go back to a couple

weeks ago. After he’d pulled his freak out, they
had moved into the friendship zone. Lawson
loved that Hayden had been over to the fraternity
house, but just as a friend—it was frustrating to no
end. They had come into a comfortable habit of
studying together and playing games every night.

Sure, they talked a lot about various things,

from football to art, their majors and even life after
graduation. Lawson realized that they were two
very different people, but they seemed to enrich
each other. Hayden was very patient and sweet—
hell, he’d made half the fraternity fall in love with
them. They fit each other exactly…which was why
he did not want to be friends with the guy.
Lawson wanted much, much more. He had just
been too chicken-shit to make the first move since
that night a couple weeks ago.

Tonight was the fraternity Halloween date

party, and Lawson was determined to take
Hayden as his date, dammit—not as a friend. Now

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

29

he just needed to ask him. Talk about being last
minute. Cooper had told him he’d better ask him
and bring his ass to the party or he was going to
take Hayden himself. There was no way that was
going to happen.

He walked over to Hayden after seeing him

hand off the still slightly wet pumpkin to the
impatient lady who scrutinized the poor thing.
Lawson was surprised she didn’t pull out a
magnifying glass out of her handbag. He felt like
yelling, It’s a pumpkin, lady, not a Matisse painting!

Poor Hayden looked like he had been the one

who’d played in the game today and not him. His
hands were shaky as he wiped the sweat from his
brow. Come to think of it, Lawson was pretty sure
he hadn’t seen Hayden eat all day and it was
nearing nine o’clock.

He walked up next to Hayden with a caramel

apple for him. “You doing all right?”

Taking a huge bite of the gooey apple, Hayden

shook his head. “I’m so glad that after tomorrow
this will be over. This day has been ruthless. I’m
going to need a vacation from a holiday job. How
are you doing? You’ve got to be sore after your
game. And I saw that big one finally sold. Who
would pay three hundred bucks for a pumpkin?”

Blushing in embarrassment Lawson replied,

“Two fifty. I broke the sucker’s stem loading it up
and the customers flipped.”

Jackie Nacht

30

Hayden’s green eyes filled with moisture before

he burst out laughing. “How’d the owners take
it?”

Lawson shrugged, “Not too bad, really. I think

they’re just glad to get anything for it since
Halloween is tomorrow.”

“True.” Smiling, Hayden began to rub the paint

off his fingers with a rag.

“Hey…you busy tonight?” Okay, why couldn’t

he just blurt it out?

Hayden’s smile slid from his face. “Uh…no. I

was going to study or something. Maybe go to the
art room and do some work.”

Shit, Lawson felt like a jerk. Clearly, Hayden

had known about the party for the last couple
weeks since the brothers had been talking about it.
The girlfriends had been going crazy trying to
coordinate costumes with their guy. Looking at
the hurt in Hayden’s eyes, he knew he had heard
all the talk the last few weeks. Lawson knew he
needed to get his act together or he was going to
lose him.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I’d really like it if

you would go with me to the Halloween party at
the frat house tonight.”

Hayden looked down while picking the paint

under his fingernails. “Sure, I can hang out with
you tonight.”

Scratching the back of his head, Lawson bravely

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

31

clarified, “No, this isn’t to hang out. Hayden. I
want you to go as my date. I know we’ve been
in…limbo lately, but I want to start dating you.
Honestly, I’m a complete rookie at this and
fumbling my way through it—badly, I might add.
I don’t want to be with you just as friends
anymore.”

There, he’d said it. If he was rejected, it would

hurt like hell, but it was better than how he’d felt
the last two weeks, chumming around with the
guy he was really growing to care about. He knew
he’d built the wall between them, and this was his
way of trying to bring it crashing down.

Hayden’s entire face lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. I want more, Hayden.”
Jumping up, Hayden came over and hugged

him. “Thank God. I thought I’d scared you away. I
was okay being your friend but…yeah. I want this,
too.”

That was the best news Lawson had heard in

weeks. “Well, the party starts in an hour, but we
can be late. I need a shower bad and unless you
want to go looking like Avatar, you might want to
wash off the blue paint off.”

Snickering, Hayden nuzzled his face into

Lawson’s neck. “Yeah, sounds like a plan. I’m
scared to go home and look in the mirror. I
painted so many faces I may be sporting black
triangle eyes and nose.”

Jackie Nacht

32

Leaning back, Lawson scrutinized Hayden’s

face. “What? Those aren’t supposed to be there?”

Hayden playfully smacked his shoulder. “Shut

up. It was surprisingly hot today and I had to keep
wiping my face. Fine, let me go get cleaned up and
scrounge up a costume and I’ll meet you at the
house in an hour.”

Lawson was shaking his head before Hayden

even finished speaking. “No, I’ll come get you in
an hour. This is a date and I’m picking up my
date.”

Gifting him with a smile, Hayden replied,

“Perfect.”

Lawson walked into his frat house and was

immediately deafened by the music. By the time
they’d finished work and got cleaned up, it was
nearing eleven. Most of the guys were already on
their way to being lights out drunk.

Cooper, the shit, had a costume laid out for him

when he got back to his room—a tight, black mesh
tank with black boxer briefs. The costume was
topped off with black paratrooper boots and
massive black wings.

He’d felt absolutely ridiculous until he picked

up Hayden and saw him as his complete opposite,
in all white. The only two differences were that
Hayden had these crazy looking white leather
boots that went to his knees and a slightly off-

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

33

kilter white marabou halo hung from his head.
There was no way anyone would see them as
anything other than a couple. Lawson was so
grateful he walked into the liquor store wings and
all just to buy Coop a twelve pack in glass bottles
to show his appreciation.

Leaning in, so he could be heard over the

music, Lawson asked, “You want anything to
drink?”

“Yes, please. What do you have?” Hayden

shouted back.

“Come on and let’s go take a look.” Walking

over to the corner where the bar was, he spotted
Coop looking at the two of them while talking to a
couple of fall pledges—one dressed up as a hot
dog and the other one a bun. It was Coop’s job as a
pledge trainer to make sure pledges did their jobs
during the parties. Sometimes it sucked for Coop
because he never was able to enjoy a party.
Somehow, that never brought him down and he
was smiling he watched them approaching.

“Well, well, well…if it isn’t the good angel and

fallen angel. Great costumes, if I do say so
myself.” Coop tilted his head back while finishing
off one of the bottles Lawson had bought him.

Hayden walked up to Coop and, going up on

his toes, gave him a big hug. He began whispering
in Coop’s ear, making twin dimples pop out on his
cheeks as he looked at Lawson. Coop gave

Jackie Nacht

34

Hayden a hard squeeze before kissing him on the
temple and pushing him back toward Lawson.

“What are you guys drinking?” Coop shouted.
Lawson leaned forward. “What’ve you got?”
Going under the rickety bar, Coop came up

with a pitcher filled with red liquid. “Grange
made this for the two of you since you brought
him all those donuts this month. It’s his special
concoction with rum and a little juice. Tread
lightly, gentlemen, or you will be paying tribute to
the porcelain god.”

Coop filled two glasses and handed them over

to Hayden and Lawson. Lawson took a tentative
sip and almost moaned at how good it tasted.
Dangerous—you could suck this stuff down and
be wasted before you knew it.

Grabbing Hayden’s free hand, he guided him to

the open floor where everyone was dancing. He
wrapped his arm around Hayden and began
moving to the music. Hayden looked a little
panicked at first and then gulped his drink down
as though for liquid courage. Lawson noticed him
looking around as if worried anyone would say
anything to two guys dancing together. He knew
if he looked hard enough, Hayden would see they
weren’t alone.

“Don’t worry about it.” Lawson took their

empty cups and threw them toward a very full
garbage can in the corner.

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

35

With both his hands free, he grabbed onto

Hayden’s waist while they both danced in the
middle of the crowded room. They received a few
strange looks from outsiders but no one said
anything. Smart people, if they wanted to continue
partying and not be physically thrown from the
premises.

Coop came out from behind the bar and began

dancing by them. It was then that Lawson noticed
that he had on a cowboy outfit, complete with
chaps…minus the jeans. The only thing covering
his goods was a jock strap, which left him bare-
assed. Evidently it was community property, too,
since it was rose colored with a few handprints
visible. Apparently, it didn’t bother him since he
soon got a none-too-gentle smack from a girl and
laughed it off like it was no big deal.

There was a guy dressed up in a monkey suit

with his girlfriend as a banana. Then there were
the stereotypical witches and vampires, although
one of his frat brothers bathed himself in glitter to
become a “modern” vampire. Lawson hoped the
guy slept with his eyes open tonight.

There were groups of friends who’d dressed as

Trekkies, the Village People, and one group that
was the scariest of all—Teletubbies. Of course there
were girls who dressed in barely there costumes,
and a few guys who came in a black shirt and said
they were vampires, but tonight wasn’t a costume

Jackie Nacht

36

contest. People were there to have fun and party.

After a couple songs, the alcohol finally began

taking effect. Lawson was doing more rubbing
against Hayden than actual dancing. Hayden’s
eyes began to droop in arousal as he leaned his
head back. The younger guy was definitely giving
as well as he was getting.

To Lawson’s utter shock, Hayden suddenly

grabbed him by the back of the head and began
kissing him for everyone to see. The entire party
faded as Lawson thrust his tongue into Hayden’s
mouth. Their tongues dueled while they moved
impossibly closer and began to blindly explore
each other’s body. Lawson slid his hands into
Hayden’s briefs, grabbing a handful of each cheek.

“Whoa, guys—hate to interrupt but you might

want to take this upstairs before the clothes come
flying off,” Coop’s voice came through the lust-
induced fog.

Without thinking about it, Lawson grabbed

Hayden’s hands and high-tailed it out of the room,
making a beeline for the stairs. There were a few
hoots and hollers along the way but Lawson had
only one goal in mind—get Hayden alone and
naked. There was no lagging on Hayden’s part.
He was shoving into Lawson’s wings to make him
move faster up the stairs.

There were a few people who blocked the top

but moved quickly out of the way when they saw

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

37

Lawson come barreling their way. He led Hayden
into his room and turned the lock to make sure no
one stumbled in.

Black and white wings went flying to the

corners of the room and mesh shirts were tossed
onto the back of the couch. They began kissing
again while they clumsily tried to take off each
other’s briefs while still having their boots on.
Didn’t quite work so they had to break away,
laughing breathlessly while they each took care of
their own.

Finally, they were standing naked in front of

each other, breathing heavily with pupils blown.
Hayden’s face was flushed and his hair was
disheveled. Lawson walked over to his desk
where he had stashed the lube and condoms he’d
bought a couple weeks ago after bringing Hayden
home for the first time. He turned around to see a
clear view of Hayden’s ass as he climbed into his
bed.

Following quickly, Lawson climbed the ladder

only to stop short as he watched Hayden lazily
stroking himself. His jaw must have dropped all
the way to the comforter at the sight.

“Care to join me, or are you gonna stay on that

ladder all night?” Hayden smirked at him while
continuing to pleasure himself.

Crawling to him on his hand and knees,

Lawson dropped the supplies by Hayden’s head

Jackie Nacht

38

and leaned down to kiss him. He began to make a
slow trek down Hayden’s body with light kisses,
going for the destination that had been in his
fantasies for the past month. Grabbing Hayden’s
cock with one hand to steady it, he gave the
underside a long slow lick that had Hayden
shivering.

“Fuck, that feels good,” Hayden moaned.
Giving the head a few more licks, Lawson

began to take the entire length into his mouth.
Hayden jerked when he made it all the way to the
base and began pulling on his hair. He bobbed for
a few more seconds before reluctantly pulling
away. They were both getting close, and Lawson
wanted to come inside Hayden.

Lawson kissed his way back up and they

collided in a hungry kiss. Both their cheeks were
flushed. He slowly lowered his body, meeting
Hayden skin for heated skin. He couldn’t
withhold the hiss as their bare cocks aligned and
began to rub up against each other. Hayden let out
a deep-throated moan while digging his short
nails into Lawson’s back. The tips of their cocks
began to leak copiously, making it so they could
slide without friction.

Lawson sat up on his knees, knowing that if

they continued, they wouldn’t last more than a
couple more minutes. He reached over to grab the
lube, uncapped it and put a small dollop onto the

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

39

tips of his fingers.

“Spread your legs, Hayden. I’m going to try

and stretch you. I don’t want to hurt you our first
time.” Lawson had read and looked enough on the
internet to know that if he didn’t take care of his
boy, Hayden would not enjoy a single second of
this. His main priority was to take care of Hayden.

Slowly spreading his legs, Hayden murmured,

“Okay, I trust you.”

“Be prepared—the lube is cold.” Lawson began

to circle Hayden’s hole with the lube. Hayden’s
breath hitched when he slowly inserted a finger.

“You okay?”
“I’m good. It burns a tiny bit, but keep going.”

Hayden grabbed the backs of his knees, giving
Lawson more room to add a second finger before
scissoring them. Two quickly became three and
soon Hayden was trembling beneath him.

“Hurry up, I’m about to shoot!” Hayden

shouted.

Grabbing the foil packet, Lawson felt his hands

shaking as he unwrapped the condom. Nerves
were making him tremble and his teeth chatter a
little. Jesus, calm the fuck down already. Rolling on
the rubber, he quickly aligned his cock with
Hayden’s entrance.

“You ready, Hayden?” Lawson waited before

Hayden gave a silent nod.

Hayden’s green eyes met his. This was going to

Jackie Nacht

40

be their first time and the moment was more than
a little sobering. He leaned down and kissed
Hayden while slowly guiding his cock in.
Hayden’s channel was hot, tight and felt
absolutely incredible.

“Lawson…hold still for a sec. It burns a little,”

Hayden gasped out while putting a death grip
onto his shoulders.

“We go as slow as you need, unless you want

me to stop altogether.” Maybe they should have
done more prep before just going to bed together.
They’d definitely skipped a lot of steps.

“No, I want this. I’ve wanted to be with you

since we first met. This is right—we just need to
go slow.” Hayden blew out a big breath trying to
relax.

“Okay, “Lawson whispered. He began to kiss

Hayden slowly, watching meticulously for any
signs of discomfort. It was several minutes before
he was finally fully sheathed inside him.

“I’m doing great. You can move when you’re

ready.”

Lawson began a slow glide in and out and

before long discovered that both of them were
very vocal. Thank God the music in the house was
still too loud, otherwise the entire fraternity would
know exactly what they were up to. They were not
quiet lovers.

The pace picked up as Hayden dug his fingers

Bewitched At the Pumpkin Patch

41

into the small of his back. Lawson began to thrust
in and out harder. His thrusting became erratic as
he came closer and closer to climax. Reaching
down, he grabbed Hayden’s shaft and within a
couple strokes Hayden was coming all over his
hand, stomach, chest—some even reached the
bottom of his chin. That was all he needed to see
to take him over the edge. With a loud shout, he
came into the condom while kissing and grabbing
Hayden’s hair roughly.

They were both sweaty and sticky but

continued to kiss even in the aftermath. Lawson
rolled off of Hayden but took him with him.
Hayden pulled back and gifted him with a
completely blissed out smile. His blond hair was
sticking up everywhere. He tried to smooth it
down and then noticed the sticky wetness. He
must have accidently gotten cum in Hayden’s hair
when he’d grabbed it moments earlier.

“I think we’re going to need a shower. I got

cum in your hair,” Lawson softly chuckled.

“Let’s wait until the party winds down. I don’t

want to walk down the crowded hall with my
pale, naked ass for all to see. Let’s not even go into
all the commentary we would get from your frat
brothers.” Hayden finished kissing the tip of his
nose.

Smirking, Lawson said, “Okay, but they’re

going to eventually see your naked ass anyway.”

Jackie Nacht

42

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Hayden

asked, “When’s that?”

“When you pledge in the winter. You don’t

think you’re going to be here night and day with
me and not get sucked into pledging? The guys
love you and Coop will be your pledge trainer.
He’s already scheming on what to do with you,”
he said while rubbing Hayden’s back.

“What makes you think I want to pledge?”

Hayden gave him a very cute but defiant face.

“How else am I going to get you to room with

me the next couple years? I red-shirted my
freshman year, so even though I’m a junior, you’re
stuck rooming with me the next two. Maybe I can
talk to Paxton and we can get a king in one of the
rooms?” Lawson was planning long-term, but so
the hell what? He’d fallen for Hayden and was
planning on keeping him.

Hayden rolled over and grabbed his arm so that

they were spooning. “You’d better, because you
are the worst bed hog ever.”

Lawson squeezed Hayden. He was so happy

he’d stuck it out at the pumpkin patch. Maybe
they could work there together again next year…

Or maybe not.

About the Author

Jackie Nacht is happily married to her husband for
over nine years. She is currently a stay at home
mom whose days are spent playing blocks,
dinosaurs, and taking her little ones to the park.
At night, she is typically curled up reading a book
or on her laptop writing, while her feet are tucked
under her hubby to keep them warm.

Please contact her at:

www.jackienacht.com

[e-mail]

https://www.facebook.com/#!/jackie.nacht